Convalescence

XXXVI.

You're the one who finally got Niall James Horan to settle down.

That was a sentence Lili hadn't been expecting to hear come out of Louis' mouth, of all people.

She paused, turning away so the two men in front of her couldn't see the blood filling her cheeks. Was she embarrassed? Did it fill her with pride? Probably a mixture of both, plus more unnamed feelings.

Niall's fingers danced along the curve of her hip as he stepped closer to her, and the touch brought her a little closer to Earth again. She exhaled.

"Yeah, I guess I am," she finally said, tilting her head slightly to give Louis a smile.

She knew Niall was never the one in his past relationships to have an issue with committing. He was always the one who stuck around because he wanted to make things work.

Even when things were awful, he never left unless he knew he had tried everything to make the relationship successful. Honestly, Niall was the perfect man when it came to commitment.

And odds were Louis was just joking around with him, as old friends would normally do. Either way, it was a nice sentiment. It kind of made Lili feel like she was doing something right for once.

"It's probably the other way around, honestly," she continued. "If anything, he's the one who's finally gotten me to settle down," When she felt Niall's arm snake tighter around her waist, Lili's shoulders finally relaxed.

His chest rumbled with a laugh. Louis cocked a brow, nodding slowly like he was surprised by her words.

"Well, it looks like he's finally picked right, for once," he joked, widening his eyes dramatically.

He laughed, and the sound was a cute little melody that carried lightly in the air. "Can't recall the last time he had a nice girl on his arm."

"Alright, Tomlinson, relax," Niall said sternly, even though he was grinning. Maybe Lili could take pride in the fact that even Niall's 'sworn enemy' could see that she was good for him.

Niall glanced down at Lili and winked, and she wanted so desperately to pull him in for a kiss because of how pretty he looked. His lips were so inviting. Instead, she turned her attention back to Louis and shrugged confidently.

"I have to agree with you," she said. "He made a good choice."

Louis smiled proudly. "I can see that. And it's been really nice to meet you, by the way." He reached up and pushed his hair out of his eyes.

"Likewise," Lili said honestly, nodding her head in agreement. "It was amazing to watch you play this week. You really were great."

She was grateful to have gotten the experience to watch all the golfers, not just Louis. It was something she would never forget.

Lili never had anything against the sport, especially now that she'd fallen in love with Niall, but her opinion about it had completely changed after this weekend. It was so much more than the 'boring sport' people made it out to be.

Louis' cheeks turned slightly pink at her praise and he grinned at the ground, avoiding everyone's eyes.

"I appreciate that a lot, thank you." He looked up again when the redness in his face had started to subside. "Anyway, Niall, I'll let you go celebrate with your people. I just wanted to congratulate you face to face before the crowd took you away."

The crinkles around his eyes and mouth deepened even further as he smiled genuinely, and he looked lovely. Niall nodded in appreciation.

A wave of cold air appeared when he moved his arm from around her body.